


So Far Away

by Zane_Takeshi



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Astral Projection, Coma, F/M, FTLGBTales, Hospitalization, Injuries that lead to hospitalization, M/M, Out of Body Experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 08:34:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7525789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zane_Takeshi/pseuds/Zane_Takeshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The silence is deafening as the numbness sets in, Natsu winds up in a coma after saving Gray from being hit by a bus. He can see some things going on around himself, but what's with the random flickering, is he dying? Lots of angst with a happy ending!</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Far Away

**Author's Note:**

> So, the song 'So Far Away' by Red gave me inspiration for this story, that and I had this sitting on my laptop for some time...for the past few years in fact.
> 
> This is part of a long Role Play I had going with my lover who died last July. A year as of three days ago in fact.
> 
> Seriously, to get the whole feel for the story, look up the song. It's sad, but good.
> 
> Also, it's in Natsu's P.O.V.

**Natsu: P.O.V**

I look down and I see you Gray, you come to see me all the time while my body lays there. They tell you there's a chance I'll never awaken again, I know you blame yourself. It's not your fault, it's not. I jumped in to save you, this was all me.

"Damnit Natsu...come back to us. We all miss you." you said to my seemingly sleeping form. "I don't know if you can hear me you flame-brained bastard, but everyone misses you... _even me..."_ You whispered that last part, but I still hear you just fine, I'm floating above you, and over my own body, it' so surreal; looking down at myself, all those machines keeping me alive.

I never wanted it to be like this. If it were my choice, I would have gotten both of us away from the bus, it would have never come to this. Your colder than normal hand wouldn't be clutching mine as you try to bring me back to the waking world, the only problem is I don't know when, or if I'll ever wake.

I heard the doctors say there was a slim chance of me coming to, I had sustained a severe head injury, which is why I was in a coma now, my body felt no pain, and the machines kept me alive.

They helped me breathe, and the various intravenous things helped keep me hydrated and full of whatever vitamins and minerals I needed, that I couldn't get due to being unable to eat.

I lay my hand on your shoulder, you can't feel me, but I'm really here Gray. I'm not gone, I'm just...sleeping. I wish I could just, y'know wake up? I'd love to come back to everyone at the school, it wasn't your fault I shoved you out from in front of that bus, I wanted to save you, because I care. You've always been my best friend, and dare I say it..my love.

Of course I'd never tell you, because you have Juvia. You've always had her, even when you didn't want her. I had Lisanna before she died in that fire in the school, and sure I had Lucy, but I didn't love either of them as I felt for you.

_'Gray..'_ I whisper to you, I know you can't hear me, but I want to believe you can, even if just for a fleeting moment. You look up, your dark blue eyes looking directly where I'm floating. "N-Natsu?" Your voice waivers, and you keep staring, but I know...I know you can't really see me.

"Natsu...I think, no I know you're here with me, you've been here the whole time, haven't you?" You ask. I smile, it's true. I've been here since I was admitted, I've seen everyone as they came to visit. _'I'm sorry Gray. It's not your fault.'_ I say.

"It's my fault you're in here, and not at school. You should have let the bus hit me." You say. If you could feel me, you'd have flown into the damn wall. _'It's NOT your fault!'_ I growl out at you. You sigh and turn your head away from where I'm at once more.

"Natsu, I..." you start, I crane my neck, trying to hear your words. I don't quote catch them as the machines begin going haywire. "NURSE!" You call out in a panic, my heart monitor is going ballistic, am I dying? Is this what it feels like to die? I can't help but wonder. "NATSU! YOU CAN'T DIE!" You yell as you're dragged out of the room. Your next words are muffled, but I hear something I've wanted to hear for years.

The words 'I love you.' tumbled from your lips, but they were closely followed by 'don't die!' I sigh and lean back with my eyes closed as the doctors and nurses work on getting my vitals back into the safe zone. It's really too bad though, you were six months too late with your confession.

A smile reaches my face, and I begin to flicker, is this the end? "NAAATSUUU!" I hear my talking cat Happy, cry out. "Calm down Happy, Natsu...he, he's going to be fine. I just know it!" I hear Lucy say. "Y-You...calm down! Natsu is my best friend!" I hear Happy once more.

"Natsu will be just fine, we have to have faith and believe in his strength. Natsu is one of the strongest people at the school, he'll come through this." I hear Erza say, and another smile crosses my face, but I flicker again.

I feel so strange, something is pulling me away, but I don't know to where or for what reason. I close my eyes again, and the silence takes over. The machines have calmed down, they've gone back to normal.

"Is he okay?" I hear Lucy ask the doctor as he walks out of the room. "Yes, his vitals have dropped back to the normal rate, his heart is no longer beating erratically. We were able to remove the respirator. He's breathing on his own power now, which means he might be close to waking up." I hear the doctor say.

"You mean Natsu-san might come home soon?" I hear Sting ask, I smile again. Sting had been there for me for a long while, he came to me after I figured out I was really well, gay. He and I had been dating for a few months now, I was happier than I had ever been. Sting made me happy, and with him I could be myself, my true self.

You knew me as a knuckle headed, hard headed, flame-brained moron, but in reality I wasn't as stupid as I acted. Sting knew I was really smart, and that I loved to draw. Most of the things I drew were you and our group. As he got further and further into the book, he found pictures of himself as well, but they weren't as in depth as yours were at first.

Once we started dating, even if it was a secret I began drawing more and more of him, better and better. Same quality as those of you, only better I suppose.

Did you know Gray, I got accepted into the best art school in Magnolia? Well I did, now I just need to wake the hell up and graduate to go there. Sting will be going with me, he's going for music. I love him you know? I really do, I could see myself marrying him, it used to be you, but you have Juvia, but I'm glad you're happy.

Even if I die now, I know everyone would be okay without me, Sting would be sad for awhile I'm sure, but he would eventually move on, and get happy again. I think his friend Yukino has a thing for him, but she knows he's gay, it's sad really.

"He's out of danger now, you kids can all go home, we'll contact your parents if there are any changes in him." I hear the doctor say. "Can we say good night?" I hear Rogue, Sting's cousin ask. "Of course, but please try to keep it short. Visiting hours are over after all." I hear him finish.

I see you Gray, you come in first. "You better wake up soon flame-brain. It's not the same without you." you say. "Good night Natsu." you say, before you leave. The next one to come in is Erza. "You better wake up, or else Natsu." she says, I suppress a laugh, even in a coma she's demanding of me. After she leaves, Lucy walks into the room.

"You need to wake up Natsu, school is so boring without you raising hell every class." she places her hand on my cheek, then she leans over and kisses my forehead, she knew I was gay, truthfully I came clean to her when I first found out, surprisingly she wasn't upset, she told me she knew the whole time, how crazy is that?

Then came in Happy, how you guys got my cat allowed into the hospital I'll never know, but I'll thank you all. They say I'll remember things from while I was unconscious, when I wake up.

* * *

After Happy leaves, Rogue comes into the room. "Natsu, Sting is being an ass, you should wake up already. You can fix him." he says, his voice quiet, after he says this he leaves, and enters Sting, my boyfriend.

I remember when he and I met.

I didn't know how to swim, and I was sinking fast.

_Sting didn't even bother stripping his clothes off as he dove in after me, he'd seen some of my art and was inspired by me, he and his family even moved to Magnolia so he could have a chance to meet me. I lost consciousness after I sank into the water, but he pulled me out and gave me CPR._

_"Natsu-san!" He called out, "Natsu-san, wake up! Come on, breathe, you can do it!" He compressed my chest, held my nose and breathed into me. I woke up coughing and sputtering, water coming out of my mouth as he helped me sit up. he grinned at me._

* * *

My chest felt heavy as I saw him looking at my figure on the bed, all the white didn't match my personality, and with how long my hair was I couldn't help but wonder how long I'd already been unconscious.

I felt like I was drowning all over again, my sight even in my 'out of body' form was growing dark. Was I going to die here? I don't know what dying feels like, but this is what I remember feeling when I slowly lost consciousness while drowning.

I can feel Sting's hand on mine, I can feel him squeeze it. "Natsu, I love you. Come back to me. I miss you." he says. I smile. _'I love you too Sting.'_ I say. Sting grins, he leans down and presses his lips to mine gently, and he whispers 'Good night.' to me.

After Sting leaves the room, I smile and close my eyes. I let my thoughts drift, what if I was really a ghost now? What if I was already dead? I shouldn't think like this, but I can't help it, it's only been the past few days that I was able to hear and see everyone as they came to visit me.

Sting visits me every morning. He's come every day since the accident. He doesn't blame you Gray, I don't blame you. No one blames you but yourself. It's not your fault.

I reach my hand out to Sting, and I place it on his cheek. I lean down and press my ghostly lips to his causing him to gasp, his crystal blue eyes open as he looks directly into my green ones, or where my green ones would be, if I weren't in a astral form.

"Natsu...I know you're there. I can feel you. I can smell you." Sting says. _'I know Sting, you and I have that bond.'_ I say. He grins at me, I love his grin. It always makes him look so sexy to me.

Sting and I had a good, healthy relationship. We'd yet to have sex, but we had an agreement on that end. We wanted to make sure it's what we really wanted, and I didn't want to be rushed, or to rush him.

"Natsu.." Sting sighs. "I have to get to school, you need to wake up. I miss you." he finishes. I smile. _'I want to feel you Sting. I love you, I miss you too.'_

"I love you too Natsu. I want you to hold me again." Sting says, my eyes widen, can you really hear me Sting? _'Sting, can you hear me?'_ I ask him. "Yes, of course I can Natsu." Sting responds to me.

I blink and look at him. _'Can you see me?'_ I ask. He nods. "I can. I can sort of feel you too, but it's not the same, you lack warmth this way." he says, "Anyway, I have to go, I'll be back after school lets out." Sting says. I nod. _'See you then, love you.'_ I say. Sting smiles and waves before he exits the room, the door shutting with a soft click as he leaves.

I feel so lost when no one is around. I hate it. I go outside the room and wander around. I think about my past. I think about Lisanna and her smile. Then I think about Lucy and her soft body, I did love the two of them, but not in the same way I do Sting, or how I felt about Gray before.

The thoughts of Sting make me grin, maybe when I woke up he and I could take that final step in our relationship finally? Who knows, it all depends on when i wake up now, doesn't it? I chuckle as I shake my head.

I flicker again, and vanish. The darkness surrounds me, and I let out a yell as I throw my hands into the air in frustration. "DAMNIT!" I yell, I tug at my hair, which was short again, like before the accident and I let out a growl of frustration.

I can hear Sting's voice, I can smell his scent, I hear and smell everything I love about him, but I don't see him. Then suddenly I'm smelling things from others. I smell evergreen trees, snow and blueberries, which I know is Gray. Then peppermint and apples, which is Lucy, followed by strawberries and cream, which is Erza.

* * *

_I feel so far away from everyone, yet so close to them as well. It's so weird. I can hear and smell everyone, but I can't see anything. My sight is completely pitch black. Then I hear the screeching of tires again, and I feel the impact on my body as I'm sent flying into the road a ways._

_There was blood everywhere, I'd lost a lot. My arm was broken at an odd angle, as was my left ankle. Even if I made a full recovery there was a chance I would have trouble walking later._

_My injuries didn't matter though, as long as Gray was safe. That's all I thought about when I saw that bus. Gray needed to be safe, Juvia and the others needed him, I wasn't thinking about myself. Then again, I never really did._

* * *

I want to wake up. I want this blackness to go away, why can't I see anything? What's going on, I'm scared. I don't want to be alone, while surrounded by people I care about. These thoughts and more are going through my head as the blackness begins to feel suffocating.

I promise to live my life to the fullest if you let me live, whoever is in charge up there, or around there. I'm a man of my word. I never go back on my word.

I feel as if I only lived a half life before the accident, now I want to live a full one. Are you listening to me! Let me wake up! I remember everything from before, about my mother and father who died when I was young, I remember having an older brother, give it back!

"Natsu, wake up!" I hear you Sting, I can hear your voice, you're not echoing like the others, I have a feeling I'm going to wake up and kiss you, regardless of who all is in the room with me. I want to feel your lips upon mine, I miss your taste.

Let me wake up, let me feel you in my arms again, let me feel your body with my hands, let me feel yours upon my body. I want to feel you, I want to hold you... Sting I love you. I feel so lost here, without you.

I'm floating in utter darkness, pitch black. I can't hear much, and I feel nothing but burning pain now. I want to cry out, I want to scream, but I can't find my voice.

Why do I feel so lost? Where am I? What's going on? Why is this happening to me? Am I dying? There's that thought again, but it's a logical question. I can no longer seem to project myself above my body, either I'm going to wake up, or I'm going to die here.

I want to throw my arms up and scream, my consciousness seems to fade even here in the bleak blackness of nothingness, I can feel the edges of my vision growing blurry, and dimming further.

* * *

_Is this the end for me? Am I really going to die here? I hear the beeping of the machines, they're going crazy again, aren't they? I'm sorry Sting, I don't know if I'm going to make it home to you. I love you._

I close my eyes and let myself succumb to the numbness. I felt absolutely nothing now. Floating in the darkness I can't feel pain, I can't see, I can't hear and I can't smell.

There is nothing around me. No pain, no warmth, no cold. Just the seemingly never ending darkness of whatever I had fallen into. It was like I was drowning all over again, only there was no pain, no fear. Nothing but numbness, though the tingling from that should have alerted me to something.

"Guuh..." I manage to groan out. "Nurse! He's awake!" I hear you say, Sting. I weakly smile, you're here! My heart beats in my chest, I can feel it. I can feel the tingling in my hands, legs and feet. I slowly open my eyes and hiss at the light.

"S-Sting.." I gasp, my voice is hoarse and quiet as if it hadn't been used in awhile, and I know it hadn't. "I'm here Natsu-san." you say, smiling as you sit next to me. "Comere" I say, a lopsided grin on my face as you lean close to me. "Yes?" you ask. I'm unaware of the others in the room aside from you and I, and even if I knew they were there, I probably wouldn't care.

I was hot-headed and reckless, but I love you so much Sting. I somehow manage to squeeze your hand as I gesture for you to come closer still, and you do.

"I love you Sting." I say. "I love you too Natsu-san, but-" you begin. "But nothing, shut up and kiss me, I'm injured." I tease you. You laugh and shrug. "Alright, what the hell." you say, before leaning over and kissing me.

The sound of three gasps is heard as you kiss me, I chuckle and somehow manage to lift my arms to wrap them around you. The kiss is gentle and loving, but you know what it meant.

"After I recover, your ass is so mine." I say, grinning at you as my arms abruptly drop back to my sides, the people who had gasped started to laugh. "You're cute together Natsu." I hear Lucy say. "Thanks Luce." I say, smiling at her as you step to the side.

"I'm happy for you, Natsu." Erza said. Then my eyes fall upon the face of my best friend, and first crush. He grinned at me, and pulled his hands from his pockets to give me the thumbs up. I chuckle. "Congrats Natsu, it's about time you moved on from the past." he says.

Everyone looks at Gray confused, I know what he means, but no one else does, I suppose that would be a story for another time huh?

"Yeah, you too Gray." I say, grinning at him as the nurses and doctor enter my room to make sure I'm healthy.

* * *

A few months after I'm released from the hospital we graduate High School.

Everyone was happy for me to have gotten into such a good college, even Gray. He got into a business school, and Juvia was going to the same school to stay close to him.

As time progressed, so did the relationship between Sting and I. We grew closer, after we started college, we managed to get to be room mates, and we loved it.

We were together every night, and at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eventually I grew the balls to propose to him, we got married shortly after we graduated from college.

He got into a good band that took off pretty well shortly after we graduated, and I made a shit ton of money doing paintings for famous people.

I never knew some of my friends were rich like I was, but then again we never cared about money as we grew up.

Erza commissioned me for a few paintings, some of them were worth well over a million dollars, but she didn't care.

Erza became the head of the Police Department, Magnolia was never as free from robbery or murder than after she took over. She married her old childhood sweetheart, one Jellal Fernandez, a C.I.A agent.

Gray took over his mother Ur's business and married Juvia shortly after college let out, they're expecting their first child this Autumn.

Lucy met someone in her culinary school, and they married while in college after getting a little too drunk. They've got a small daughter who they named Jamie. She was adorable.

Rogue married Yukino, who surprisingly loved him since childhood, and not Sting like I had initially expected.

Sting and I adopted two children, a boy and girl fraternal twins who we loved unconditionally, and who didn't judge us for being two men, nor did they get judged for having two fathers.

Then again, who would judge the daughter or son of two very well off, wealthy men? Especially men who were related to, two very well know, quite famous FBI agents?

My father and Sting's father were apparently partners from the academy. Both were killed by a bomb set in a building they were visiting, it was freak accident, and we didn't find out until we were well into our marriage and lives after college.

We didn't blame our fathers, we both loved them quite a lot. I had actually spent a few years searching for my father Igneel, believing he was still alive out there somewhere, but when I received his death certificate, I knew he was gone.

Sting got his the same time I got mine. It was actually four years after we got married, we'd invited our fathers, but they were both out of the country at the time.

Sting and I mourned together, but we kept one another strong. We stayed close, and are still growing closer to one another. I love him deeply, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. He is my world.

Sting is mine. I am his. We have two kids together, adopted or not, we love them as if they were really ours, and we were thinking of seeking a surrogate for a child to be born from one or both of our dna, because apparently science.

Sting and I are happy, and will continue to be. "I love you Sting." I say. "I love you too Natsu." he says as I wrap my arms around his torso. I nuzzle his chest causing him to laugh. "Stop, that tickles." he says.

I can't help myself, so I tickle him some more.

"Stop! You're e-evil!" Sting laughs out. Just then, our two kids come home from school.

"Daddy, what are you doing to papa?" our daughter asks. "He's torturing me! Save me!" Sting cries out. Our son laughs. "He's tickling him of course Hana." he says. "Oh, okay Papa, daddy have fun!" Hana says. "Come on Haru, let's go do our homework!" Hana says, before grabbing her brothers arm and dragging him off.

"We should set up a play date with the other kids." Sting says. "I agree." I say. With that we head to the kitchen, after supper our whole family goes to bed.

* * *

**Owari?**

**What did you all think? Good? Bad?**

**Any flames will be fed to Natsu, he loves them.**


End file.
